In the spring of 1933, the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany was opened northeast of Dachau. Initially planned to hold political prisoners, it soon became a model for all other concentration camps. It also served as a training centre for the SS: the “school of violence.” This tour takes you from the centre of Munich to the historic Memorial of the Dachau Concentration Camp. With specially trained guides, you explore a monument to one of history’s cruellest crimes.

In the spring and summer of 1945, as the Allied armies advanced across Nazi-occupied Europe to end the Third Reich’s reign of terror, the world witnessed the liberation of dozens of concentration camps. Allied soldiers released the desperate survivors from camp to camp throughout exhausted Europe. On 29 April 1945, US forces liberated the main concentration camp in Dachau, thus ending more than a decade of atrocities and brutality.

The sick, starving and the living told the shocked world about systematic murders, torture, degradation and exploitation. A system that had been conceived and set in motion in 1933 – including in a small town about 18 kilometres north of Munich. Of the many picturesque towns and villages on the outskirts of Munich, one of the most beautiful is the medieval town of Dachau. Just outside the city centre, there is now lasting evidence of the evil that took place there, where a large international memorial now stands on the site of the former concentration camp.

The present-day memorial combines the historical authenticity of the original site and its many preserved buildings with the function of a modern exhibition centre. It is a place of remembrance, pilgrimage and education. Visiting the former concentration camp can be a challenging, but also a moving and unforgettable experience. Your tour guide will accompany you on the train ride and tell you all about the history and character of the concentration camp, the victims and the servants, with great sensitivity, dignity and respect.